Plumbing failure . . .

Because I am a woman of the world - or at least of the Dandenong Ranges - I assume when things go wrong I can fix them. Damn right I can.

So when my en suite sink got clogged the other week I knew it'd be easy to fix. (My late husband's oft regretted words sing in my ear: Oh, that's a small job, won't take a minute.)

After putting up with a slowly draining sink for a week, I googled "clogged drain/sink" and found various remedies. The favoured solution from those who decided to write in to a previous questioner was Draino. I had no Draino so went with the bicarb and vinegar approach. . . after I'd been to the shop and bought the said items.

The end result? A sink that was completely blocked. Dang.

So the next step was to dismantle the sink. Which I did successfully and drained it. I even unscrewed the plug and cleaned out what appeared to be 10 years of nuclear waste around the sink hole. I have absolutely no idea how that got there as I don't even let my hair wash down the sink. The only things that go down that sink is end result of brushing my teeth, or washing my face. Very worrying. 

See photo? No clogging but you can see the remnants of black gunk there. And don't panic, that is not my toothbrush. That's a retired toothbrush I used to clear the nuclear waste from the sink hole. 

I also had to dismantle the pipes under the sink, put a bowl under there to catch the draining water, and junk, the tighten the pipes up again.

To the uninitiated this looks simple, however, one has to stick one's hands up behind/underneath the covering put and twist two pipes in opposite directions. Somehow. It also helps if you have very small hands because this sink is only marginally bigger than sinks in airplane bathrooms. 

I failed at this.

So I went to plan B. Use the main bathroom until I figure out how to do it, or call Dad for assistance. Having a 2nd bathroom is a bit of a bonus, as is having this entire 3 bedroom house that I only use half of, but it is no consolation for not having a husband who could fix this stuff for me. 

I've been "camped"out in the main bathroom for a week now. It's not looking good. I think I will have to call Dad. He might be reluctant to come over though as a while ago I lost an earring down the sink and had to do the dismantling thing then too. . . he said it was very tricky to get the pipe back together again. 

See my very glamorous toiletry/make up products? I suppose I shouldn't really just leave them all out there on the bench but it was meant to be a temporary solution. . . temporarily for a week now . . .